The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a one-year stay of enforcement for the testing and certification requirements for lead, phthalates, and mandatory toy standards for manufacturers and importers of children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (“CPSIA”). The decision to postpone the requirements is due primarily to the overwhelming number of comments and questions they received.

The one-year stay postpones these specific testing and certification requirements and is intended to give the Commission and affected businesses temporary relief while the Commission finalizes four proposed rules that could exempt certain products from testing and issues more guidance on when and how testing should be conducted.

The stay has significant limitations that companies must consider when evaluating how to proceed with CPSIA compliance efforts.